3 things that scare me : 30. Not reaching my potential. Not making a difference.
3 people who make me laugh : Will Ferrell. Dave Chapelle. Vince Vaughn.
3 things i love : Racing in top form. New experiences. Sharing a meal with friends/family.
3 things i hate : Complacency. Closed minds. Giving up.
3 things i don't understand : People. Greed. Complex matrix algebra.
3 things on my desk : Bottle of Naproxen. Medical insurance benefit papers. 'You Better Believe It!' CD.
3 things i'm doing right now : Icing my wrist. Thinking about Boardercross. Cooking pasta.
3 things i want to do before i die : Found HQT. Go to outer space. Get married/Have kids.
3 things i can do : Focus. Compete. Procrastinate.
3 things i can't do : Dance. Laundry. The Dishes.
3 things you should listen to : Your instinct. Your stomach. Your parents.
3 things you should never listen to : The Naysayers. The Patsies. Your parents.
3 things i'd like to learn : How to dance. How to cook. How to take things less seriously?
3 favorite foods : Steak. Catfish. Pancakes.
3 beverages i drink regularly : Milk. Coffee. Various sports drinks.
3 shows i watched as a kid : Robotech. G.I.Joe. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
3 people i'm tagging : Jonathan. Josh. Jason.

well, things are going pretty well with my achilles tendon these days. had one of my last physical therapy sessions today. man, talk about crazy stuff. pt started all nice and easy with various stretches, then add various types of squats and lunges. but then they started adding in this kind of firm, but spongy, foam thing that you stand on with only one leg - just try to keep your balance - and then they throw balls at you. yeah, throwing balls at me while i'm on my bum foot on a foam thing that makes you wiggle every which way. truly ridiculous, folks. i mean, i'm not that good at catches things by itself, and secondly, i'm not the most adept at balancing on one foot. some call agility training - i call it the freak show. it's like i was putting on a show for everyone at the rehab clinic. i think i was the opener for the dancing bears. but doing all that junk wasn't enough - this time they laid out a agility ladder on the floor. that's one of those things where you practice speed footwork for any of those sports that use fancy footwork. did i mention i'm not the most graceful or quick with my feet? yeah, that was awesome. hopping here, hopping there, zigging here, zagging there. wow. but even though i wasn't super great at any of the agility stuff, it was pretty fun to do, and i could appreciate being more agile for my future night job as a ninja. hai!

well, things are going pretty well with my achilles tendon these days.  had one of my last physical therapy sessions today.  man, talk about crazy stuff.  pt started all nice and easy with various stretches, then add various types of squats and lunges.  but then they started adding in this kind of firm, but spongy, foam thing that you stand on with only one leg - just try to keep your balance - and then they throw balls at you.  yeah, throwing balls at me while i'm on my bum foot on a foam thing that makes you wiggle every which way.  truly ridiculous, folks.  i mean, i'm not that good at catches things by itself, and secondly, i'm not the most adept at balancing on one foot.  some call agility training - i call it the freak show.  it's like i was putting on a show for everyone at the rehab clinic.  i think i was the opener for the dancing bears.  but doing all that junk wasn't enough - this time they laid out a agility ladder on the floor.  that's one of those things where you practice speed footwork for any of those sports that use fancy footwork.  did i mention i'm not the most graceful or quick with my feet?  yeah, that was awesome.  hopping here, hopping there, zigging here, zagging there.  wow.  but even though i wasn't super great at any of the agility stuff, it was pretty fun to do, and i could appreciate being more agile for my future night job as a ninja.  hai!

another day at the mountain today, and I actually got up to the blues today.  Very tentative at first, but then started handling them better.  it's nice to learn new things.  making turns smoother and not thinking about them, but then when i get tired i tend to lose the technique and that's when the cataclysmic falls occur.  re-tweaked the right wrist today near the end - that sucked, but it's no worse off now than when it was first sprained.  oh, well.  prolly one more day of snowboarding before i go down to FL for Christmas.

 

rode my bike for a grand total of 72 miles this week, which is an improvement from 26 last week, which was an improvement from 0 the week before.  Next week's target is 127...  By January I should be up to normal miles, but then, of course, the racing begins in february...

wow, today was a marathon session up at Mountain High.  9am to 9pm.  Started good, went bad, turned good, went bad, finished great.

 

good.

Started at 9 on bunny central, and I was still having trouble going from toe to heel.  Just couldn't figure it out.  Group lesson at 11 (part of the package deal) but no one else showed up for lessons, so it turned into a private one - sweet!  received tutelage on shifting my feet weight in the turns, keeping my hips forward, and more bend in the knees.  Sounds simple, but oh, man...  Meesed with the binding adjestments a bit, and suddenly it was a lot easier to control the board - cool.

 

bad.

Lesson over and lunchtime.  Had a chicken burrito and hot dog.  Something went awry here, cause that lunch absolutely demolished me until about 4:30.  Yeah, I tried working on snowboarding, but that was difficult between the GI distress head calls.  Yuck.  Considered going home, cause I was just in torture.  Finally that all worked itself out, and I could get back to focusing on the task at hand - toe to heel.  Stuff just wasn't working - was wondering where the enlightenment from my lesson had gone - pretty much evaporated.

 

good.

And then I decided to just take a step back, glaze my eyes over, and let the body 'go with the flow'.  Put my headphones on for the first time and just started going down the trails a-okay.  That was at 5:29 pm.  Also known as 'AWESOMETIME'.  Kept working it - toe to heel was working fine now.  All was looking peachy.  Was doing so well, that I decided to stay for the night session to reinforce the good boarding.  Also didn't feel like city in rush hour traffic again (sat in that in the morning).

 

bad.

At 7:01pm, I was prolly going just a little too fast for my own good and taking a - you guessed it - toe to heel turn, but I overcompensated on my toe lifts and I busted bad.  WOMP!  Took a time out and just lied in the snow for a couple minutes (with my butt elevated).  Was wondering if I'd ever be able to sit in a seat ever again.  Was amazed there wasn't a blood trail coming straight out of my butt.

 

great.

But I eventually got up, and started doing my turns down the hill again.  Took a Mountain Dew break, was conscious of how I screwed up, didn't do it again.  Went a lot slower, but rode with better technique so that was nice.  Eyes were glazed and I realized that I really just needed to practice the fundamentals - the speed will gradually increase without me even knowing it.

 

Got home at 11:45 and I've got to get up at 4:30 to attend a VTC at work at 5:30am (because of f-in 8:30 eastern time).  Definitely'll need a good cup of joe for that one.  Glad I was able to work out that toe-heel thing, though.  :-)

 

Oh yeah, didn't even have to stop by the ER on the way home this time.

This battle station is fully operational.

 

 

 

footnote :

So I'm sitting here in my living room just visualizing the carving technique - and my intellectual mind mostly envisions crashing nearly every time, even though I know I'm fully capable of linking the turns.  It's really pretty surreal.  Definitely need to put my mind into power saver mode when I'm carving the turns and just feel the board and snow.  wow.

For the tailbone - 'nuff said.

another PT session today, and it was a real barnburner.  one leged this, one legged that.  one legged this/that with some mini dumbells raising your arms in every which way on a squishy but firm foam pad that keeps you off balance.  wow.  target bike mileage for the week is 80-100.  that would be awesome.  miles on tues, thurs, fri, and sun.  but no miles wednesday.  but since wednesday would normally be a high mileage day, i normally don't go to work that day.  so i guess i could go to work...  yeah, right.  i'll go snowboarding instead.  with all the essential padding, no doubt.

party people in the house - can ya feel me?

yes yes, ya'll, and ya don't quit.

Mucha-licious is back on the blog.

 

 

so i've been having PT for my achilles tendon injury for the past couple weeks, and it's been going pretty well, i guess.  just a lot of stretching, box steps, massage, etc.  no time on the bike until just this last week, and i was able to ride for an hour without any major pain, so that was actually really great improvement.  i'll ride a bit more this week and start to up the mileage gradually to get back on track.  yeh.

 

but what have i been doing in the interim?  staring longingly at my bikes wishing i could ride them?  well, sometimes, yeah.

 

but i decided to take the plunge and learn how to snowboard.

 

snowboard?  huh?  mucha on a snowboard?  actually having to use balance, agility, etc?  is that the bizarro mucha?

 

no, in fact my buddy jaan planned this great ski/snowboard trip to his dad's place in idaho over new years, and in the depth of my depression of non-bike-riding, i decided what the hell - this looks cool - i've got to give it a shot.  snowboarding doesn't stress the achilles, so it would be something nice to focus on for a while.  but you know, it's just never that easy with me.  i came to the resolution that i can't just show up to idaho with zero board time on my hands.  i've got to show up as a seasoned pro - or at least as someone who knows how to get on and off the lift.  yeah, getting off the lift without always falling - that would be sweet.  did i mention i only skied once back in high school on a church trip and that while i did own a skateboard as a teenager, i was absolutely no good at it, and really only succeeded in learning about road rash - something that i still learn about in cycling - funny how that is...  still haven't surfed in cali yet, either.

 

bottom line - it's gonna take a little work.

 

anyhoo, today was my very first day on the slopes.  and as crappy as the conditions were, it was pretty awesome.  crappy conditions defined:  SoCal hasn't gotten any real snow at the mountains yet.  But they're open - how can that be?  fake snowmakers, of course.  i don't know anything about snow, but apparently the fake stuff is just not as desirable as the real flakes.  But the crappy conditions continue!  Today was blue skies and pretty warm on the mountain - mid to upper 40's?  that means the snow kind of gets melty midday, but then periodically freezes over in ice patches.  now one thing i *do* know is that boarding on ice is pretty no good.  yeah, turning doesn't work as well.  the marging to falling is greatly decreased.  did i mention i really need as much margin as possible?  :-(

 

day started off at 5:10 AM wakeup and on the road by 5:30.  a couple wrong turns later, and i ended up at Mountain High resort (google it) at 7:45 AM.  got my lift ticket, rentals and had a lesson from 9-11.  practiced going down the bunny slope toe-side a couple times, then heel-side a couple times, then got the special nod from the instructor and learned how to link the turns.  total sweetness.  starting to do some real snowsport activity here.  felt like a real dude.  although, remember, this is still just the bunny slope, and i still was just falling over now and then just for the sake of it.

 

#1 rule of snowboard club : you don't land on your wrists.

 

#2 rule of snowboard club : YOU DON'T LAND ON YOUR WRISTS!

 

Was going down bunny central feeling like the king of the world when i caught a particularly nasty edge on my toe to heel transfer.  ka-blammo.  tailbone was heading straight for the ground at high velocity, so what does my mind think?  dude, put out your hands to break your fall.  wow - bad mistake.  right wrist really took a beating on that one.  had to walk it off and rub some snow on it.  ouch.  got back up and fell back down again.  on the same wrist.  holy ka-ka-kabinki.  time to take a lunch break.

 

eating lunch and the wrist is slightly pained.  must have hyperextended it - hopefully just that.  think - hey, why not go to the first aid hut - maybe they have a doc that could just look at it just in case?  no doc, and the ski patrollers are like - yeah, you should leave and get it x-rayed just in case.  the wheels are turning in my head, and i say, oh, thanks for the advice.  go straight to the pro shop and buy a pair of wrist guards (which i really should have simply gotten in the first place).  problem solved.  wrists are immobile and protected and i can go on to injuring other parts of my body.

 

was going down another 'green' slope, but this one had all the ridiculous jumps and crap in it and i was avoiding that stuff like the plague, cause please - i may be a little reckless, but i'm not stupid.  avoiding a rail or something, and i catch an edge - did i mention i was actually going a little faster here - and i just walloped my tailbone (better than the wrists, right?).  that's the kind of hit where you just lie there on your back for a cool minute and kind of arch your back to raise your butt off the ground it hurts so much.

 

at this point, confidence = negative 50.  (even less than the beginning of the day [zero] because at least at the beginning of the day i didn't have a clue what the tailbone pummeling felt like (and i was still worrying in the back of my mind about the wrist).  just had visions of breaking my ass.  going to work and sittting on pillows, etc "yeah, i broke my ass."

 

had to take it easy to the bottom of the hill and take a mountain dew break.  was kind of thinking of calling it quits, but was like - huh?  who?  me?  no.  i'll just go up the bunny side and take a falling leaf toe-side down the hill.  just one run.  see how it goes.  went fine, but i was very timid.  did another.  then another with just heely.  then i got back to linking the turns and i caught a couple edges (usually on the toe to heel switch) but did plenty where i went down the run just fine.  it all comes down to your body knowing how to ride the board quite well, thank you very much, but my mind tries to butt in and mess things up "oh, you're going to fast - you should scrub some speed - oh, but you need to transition too - crash"  silence the mind and the board follows the body and things go way better.  kind of like that zen stuff again.

 

finish the day at 4PM - a full day on the fake slopes.  driving home to SD and my bum wrist is slightly swolen, which makes it a bit painful to move around.  having broken a couple bones, i have a decent idea of what it feels like for me to break a bone, and this didn't feel like that, so I'm thinking it's prolly just sprained or hyper-extended.  but what if it's a hairline fracture or something like that?  so i get back to san diego and stop by the hospital er before i go home just for a quick look see.  went to a less busy (but really good) hospital and got prompt service.  x-rays passed - just a sprain.  ice - compress - yes!  only 1 hr 20 min for the total hospital time, which i thought was a-okay for the er.

 

 

in summary :

against all odds, mucha has a brilliant day at the slopes.

wheaties, breakfast of champions.

Some friends of mine did the big 3-day Breast Cancer Awareness walk this past weekend. Pretty cool - they had a great time, and dressed up for the event. Pictured below, Leslie, Steven, and Sienna.

What's on Leslie's hat? Yeah, that's an ear. She and Sienna are finishing up schooling for PhD's in Audiology. Their catchphrase for the event? "hEAR's to boobs! We walk til it Hz!" Like I said, truly awesome. Steven dressed up as the Pink Lantern. That might be better than the Elf. Steven volunteered on the crew for the walk, so he played traffic cop daily - what if you saw this on your sunday drive to church?

A couple weeks ago I had to go out to Washington, DC for work. That was cool, as I had just finished track nationals so I had some spare time on my hands. It was doubly cool, though, as I got do hang out with my buddies in DC and go backpacking on the Savage Mt Trail in western Maryland over the weekend. It was pretty brisk temps for this SoCal dude, but it was probably only in like the low 50's. Wow.

We hiked to the top of the mountain just to see what was there

- and eat some lunch, of course.

And we got to see this :

And this...

Pretty sweet. I do miss the lush forests sometimes - you just don't have those around San Diego. Photos courtesy of our camera sherpa,

Wes Leong.

OK, so just as things were getting rolling in the off-season training, I managed to injure myself. Nothing life threatening (that's a nice change) - I've got an enflamed achilles tendon (AKA tendonitis) in my left ankle. It arose a couple of weeks ago from overuse, I guess, and I've been taking it pretty easy since then - mostly just resting, icing, etc. Tried a short ride this past Wednesday and it started hurting after only 5 minutes. Ridiculous - time to see the doctor. Doctor Richburg races down at the track with me. He checked it out - said it would be fine, just needed some physical therapy to strengthen the area. Prescribed 500 mg pills of naproxen (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug) twice a day.

dr : Do you have any stomach problems?
me : Nope.
dr : Good, cause you just need to be careful with these - they're not miracle pills - eat immediately after you take a pill, otherwise they tend to burn a hole right through your GI tract (transient ulcers).
me : Awesome - and this is prescribed medicine?
dr : Hey, it works fine as long as you eat food.
me : Oh, I can do that...

Naproxen is also used in Aleve, but in smaller doses. As a comparison:

Aleve recommends 2 pills (220 mg each) for the first hour, but no more than 3 pills per day. So, total of 660 mg per day.
This prescription says 2 pills per day (500 mg each) for a total of 1000 mg per day. Huh.

Physical therapy starts next Wednesday - interested to see what that involves.

I'm a lumberjack! And I'm okay...

 

ok, so my team is running the swap meet at our local velodrome tomorrow.  bike stuff.  buyers.  sellers.  window shoppers.  you get the idea.

 

so the team general is out of town with his wifey, so he delegated the official day of ops to yours truly, the cap'n.  aside from having to get to the event super early (6:45), i have to get change to run the gate and concessions.

 

bank of america

 

me : [standing in line] ho-hum...

attendant : what do you need today, sir?

me : yeah, i need $200 in singles.

attendant :  [gulp] oh...  we can help you out with that.

me : [back to standing in line...]

 

teller : next, please.

me : hi, could i please have $200 in singles?  $1 bills...

teller : sure, no problem.

[hands me 2 $100 stacks of ones]

me : wow...

teller : what do you need all that for...?  ;)

me : you wanna find out?

teller : [giggle]

 

do i need to mention that i was in one of the epicenters of strip clubs in san diego?  yeah, the sluttiness of this episode didn't escape me.  awesometime.

You stay classy, San Diego...

 

San Diegans, I have a very grave announcement - the dead are walking the streets of OB!


As well as the resurrected!

(Burrito, anyone?)

Hey, it's Ron Burgundy!

 

Breaking news from Ron Burgundy and the Channel 4 News Team!

 

At work today, the Financial Manager told me I should think about quitting working for the Navy in favor of comedy / acting.  It would pay better.  She said I just looked a lot happier being Ron Burgundy (and Buddy the Elf) than being Jeremy the Navy Systems Engineer.  Hmm.  Funny thing is that CAPT Pope (the top of the food chain boss guy in our office) said the same thing 2 days prior on Halloween.

Ron Burgundy turned some coin at the local bar scene last night. Didn't even realize the costume contest part until I was on my 3rd or 4th scotch (Ron's drink of choice - Scotchy scotch scotch scotch). And truly folks, it just escalated really quickly from there - Ron Burgundy style. I haven't woken up drunk in years, but I sure did today. Wow, that was just so no good.

We had a company 'offsite' with mandatory attendence today bright and squirrelly at 8AM too, so I couldn't call in sick. By some miracle I woke up in time to throw on some clothes and get to the meeting. Talked about the 'corporate enterprise', and BS like that. I was awake for most of it, I think. First thing, though, was a 'team building' trust exercise where you wear blindfolds. For a second, I was really worried that I might fall out of my chair while blindfolded, but I turned out fine. 

Anchorman : The Legend of Ron Burgundy

 

Interviewing my boss, Wendy...
At the weekly staff meeting...
Coordinating with my 'Man on the Street', Mike...

 

OK, sorry for the lack of updates while track nationals was going on...

 

As a quicklook :

 

5:04.196

DNQ

3, DNQ

3:49.423

 

More descriptively :

 

Wednesday, 4 Oct

 

4 km Individual Pursuit

Got a decent warmup and rode a mostly steady effort.  I was really hoping to get below 5:00, but my best time in this event (Jan '06) is 5:04.054, so I can't complain too much.  The 6 weeks of training paid off, as I was able to regain my fitness and at least be as strong as I was in January.  Now, it's kind of bittersweet, cause I was posting better training times in June before the accident, but what can I say.  It'll all work itself out.  I was actually quite pleased to get that pursuit time - only 4 weeks earlier I had ridden a 5:19.7.  Nice.  The pursuit was basically a success, so anything after that was basically gravy.

 

15 km Scratch Race

Raced a qualifier heat - didn't qualify for the final.  Just raced too conservatively and didn't race with confidence.  Oh, well.

 

Thursday, 5 Oct

 

30 km Points Race

Raced a qualifier heat, scored 3 points - didn't qualify for the final.  Went with a move almost from the gun and scored some points - was working with pro roadie Kirk Albers (Jelly Belly) so that was pretty cool.  Sat in for most of the rest of the race.  Wanted to go with a move at about 30 laps left, but was boxed in and couldn't get out.  Pretty frustrating, as that move stayed out to sweep up most of the rest of the points.  Made a calculated move to try and sprint just as the aforementioned break was lapping the field, but the officials called the break as the group in contention for the points sprint, so my breakaway companion and I were totally shut out of the points.  That really sucked, as I would have then had enough points to advance to the final.  Oh, well, just a gray area kind of call on the part of the officials.  And I lost out.

 

Friday, 6 Oct

 

3 km Mass Start Test

Warmed up okay and posted a 3:49.423.  My best time (also back in Jan '06) is 3:48.029, so I was pretty close to that.  Just didn't really care at this point.  Just went out and rode as hard as I could to finish out the season.  And I've got to say, when it was done I was totally ready for the season to be over.

 

 

So, in celebration of the season being 'officially' over, I drank some beer and rode 101 miles on Saturady and then 102 miles on Sunday.  Monday was off, but the rest of the week is looking like more mileage.  Time to get ready ready for 2007.

Remember Sesame Street?

One of these things is not like the others,
One of these things just doesn't belong,
Can you tell which thing is not like the others
By the time I finish my song?

Did you guess which thing was not like the others?
Did you guess which thing just doesn't belong?
If you guessed this one is not like the others,
Then you're absolutely...right!

 

Weapons of Mass Destruction

 

OK, so Sept 26 was the last night of racing at the San Diego Velodrome for the year, so we had a couple fun races interspersed amongst the 'serious' racing. Trike racing - fun or serious? Or both? We lined up for a drag race to the finish line... Unfortunately, I had a poor start...
And then it wasn't just a poor start, I pretty much couldn't get off the line.
But as everyone knows, there's no fooling around. I tractor pulled it all the way to the promised land. Word.
 

OK, so I just registered for Track Nationals.  Starts next Wednesday and runs through Saturday.  Now really, all I've been training for since the accident has been the Pursuit, which is first thing on Wednesday.  Scratch race is on Wednesday too, so of course I'll do that one since I'll be around.  Then I was thinking - maybe I'll just call it quits and go home after that?  Been thinking about that for a couple weeks now.  That would mean skipping the Points Race on Thurs and the Mass Start test on Friday.  Madison is on Saturday, but I'm not sure I'd have a partner for that one anyway.  Anyway, was contemplating not registering for all those races.

 

But then I just had to stop and say, WTF.  Who are you?  Cap'n what?  Are you going to be 'too tired' and 'unmotivated' after the pursuit on Wednesday that you're gonna have to go home and sulk about how your season was ruined or some BS like that?  Give me a break.  That's not me.  I'm doing the full schedule and if I can get a Madison partner, then I'll do that as well.  Time to ride like I've got a pair.

Maybe I'll just quit bike racing and take up trike racing.
There's more spectators.

 

well, i had my last 2 root canals done today.  that made 7 total.  wow.  next up will be an appointment with the ortho - not scheduled yet.

 

 

so i was reading cnn and saw an article on astronomers finding a supernova that was first spotted in 185 A.D.  made me think - hmm, what's the time frame on a supernova?  is that an instantaneous implosion/explosion, or is the whole process more gradual?  is it measured in seconds, minutes, months, years?  went to wikipedia and started reading about supernovae, but then got sidetracked to novae, then the milky way galaxy, then the andromeda galaxy, the local group, the canes venatici cloud, the virgo supercluster, the galactic core, barred spiral galaxies, and of course, the universe itself.

 

estimated 200 - 400 billion stars in the milky way galaxy.

estimated 1,000 billion stars in the andromeda galaxy.

 

and of course, there's like billions and billions of other galaxies out there containing billions and billions more stars and possible solar systems.

 

meanwhile, we get to worry about terrorism, fanatacism and untold other -isms instead of putting more effort into learning more about what's around us.  Whatever.

i'm reading the 'hagakure' off and on. it's a book on samarai zen thoughts. here's a thought:

There is surely nothing other than the single purpose of the present moment. A man's whole life is a succession of moment after moment. If one fully understands the present moment, there will be nothing else to do, and nothing else to pursue. Live being true to the single purpose of the moment.
Everyone lets the present moment slip by, then looks for it as though he thought it were somewhere else. No one seems to have noticed this fact. But grasping this firmly, one must pile experience upon experience. And once one has come to this understanding he will be a different person from that point on, though he may not always bear it in mind.
--- Yamamoto Tsunetomo

what a week.

 

tuesday.

training at the track in the morning.  racing at the track in the evening.  getting faster - just wish i had more time 'til nationals.  no worries - i'll just do what i do.

 

wednesday.

first thing in the morning i got 3 more root canals.  pretty painless with the novacaine, but oh man, that sucked when it wore off.  couldn't go into work that day...

 

thursday.

got a call from the police department in carlsbad, new mexico.  THEY FOUND MY SCOOTER!  absolutely ridiculous - apparently it even still had my cali plates on it.  i won't be getting it back, as i was paid off by the insurance company many months ago, but that's fine.  i just can't believe that it wasn't exported to tijuana, mex instead.

 

for the first time since my accident, ate 2 pieces of pizza tonight without having to use a knife and fork.  that was unbelievably awesome.  the freedom to eat food how i want, when i want.  power to the teeth.  they're finally starting to settle down.

OK, so mom sent me a note that krispee kreme is losing money left and right. no big surprise, since they shut down my local distribution center. actually, i rarely paid for the doughnuts anyhow - i always asked for a 'free hot one'. so they should be saving a lot of money from that...

anyway, was thinking it would be cool to open up a conveyor belt of krispee kremes in paris and really stick it to the frenchies. take that, froggee.

so there was more racing today, and i wasn't late or anything, so fun times were had.  madison and scratch race, both very tough.  i paired with a friend of mine, kevin schiller, in the madison (it's a tag team race where you fling each other in - just look up 'madison cycling' on wikipedia) and we got 3rd.  not too shabby.  in the scratch race, i got 5th.  the fields we pretty small, so that's not really anything stellar - just racing and getting some kinks worked out.  anyway, some of my speed is coming back - not so much a sprint - but that's not necessary for the pursuit anyway.  it was a quality weekend of racing - now it'll be some more solid training until nationals start on oct 4.  yeh.

oh, and i'm staying up in LA tonight, so it's all good for the morning lateness tomorrow.  yikes.

"It's no surprise to me I am my own worst enemy"

    - from the band Lit

 

Yeah, I heard that song driving up to the races today and it was exactly how the day started out.  I got up later than I needed to and got on the road later than I should have.  Got to the track at a late time and signed up for the Pursuit just before registration closed.  I thought I would be put last in the pursuit rotation, but instead I was put first and that truly sucked.  I got to ride a few laps on the track, but I didn't get a warmup and that truly sucked.  No one to blame but myself, but I can't even really be mad at me.  You see, Cap'n Late has a long record of tardiness.  I should have seen it coming and I should have gone up to LA the night before.  I considered that option yesterday, but then I just couldn't get my stuff together in time and so I didn't.  You see, I was late on the previous day as well.  I think I must have years and years of built-up lateness that I somehow just can't shake.  Maybe I need some sort of exhorcism.

 

So I'm just not that good at waking up in the morning.  I don't know - it's just not my thing.  I'm a night owl not an early bird.  Whatever.  For any race that I have to leave SD before 8 or 9 AM, I better just get a room the night before.  (As a side note, this is also why I have trouble making weekend group rides that start at like 8:15 AM.  Ugh.)

 

But what about the pursuit time?

 

26 Aug 06 - 5:19.70

15 Sep 06 - 5:12.01

 

Now, that's a decent improvement for 3 weeks - I'm getting back in shape a bit - but it's not really an apples to apples comparison.  Different equipment, different bike position.  Whatever.  I'll still take the improvement.  I could have gone faster if I had just gotten a good warmup in.  If I can get the time down closer to 5:00 by Nationals on Oct 4, then I'll be a lot happier.

 

Anyway, did a 30 km Points Race later in the day, and that went okay.  I was maybe a bit undergeared, and that made it kind of hard in the first 50 laps, but in the last 70 laps, I was able to cruise a lot more effectively.  Didn't go for sprint points - just tried to get in breakaways off the front to try and get a lap.  Didn't work.  And I missed the move that actually did get a lap - it was a counter to a move I had just been in.  Oh, well, the race was still positive though, in the sense that I got some good speedwork in and I actually felt comfortable mixing it up in the race, etc.

 

More racing tomorrow - Scratch and Madison.  Should be fun.

i went to bed last night thinking about the pursuit.

i woke up this morning thinking about the pursuit.

 

the pursuit is a 4 km individual time trial on the track, and it's my primary focus.  training seems to be coming along pretty well.  it's hard for me to believe that it's only been 24 days since i've been back on the bike, but that's the truth.  today was a super tough pursuit training session at the track in the morning and then a variety of racing on the track in the evening.  super long day.  super exhausted.  now it's 2 easy days, then a little warmup/leg-opener on friday.  this weekend is the state track championships up in LA.  pursuit and points on saturday.  scratch and madison on sunday.  like i said, the pursuit is my focus, so if i can pull off a decent time there first thing saturday morning, then i'll be super stoked.  the rest will be gravy.  but if i don't spark a great time, then it's not the end of the world either.  i'll have exactly 4 weeks of training in my legs come saturday morning.

 

right now i'm thinking about the pursuit.

when i wake up tomorrow morning, i'll still be thinking about the pursuit.

on september 11, 2001

 

i was living in Philadelphia, PA.  i had been there for a little over a month and was a bike messenger for Rapid Delivery.  i remember vividly that i was dropping off a document at the commonwealth court when i was told, "get ready to go to war, son.  we've been attacked!"  that was around 9:30, after both planes had hit the world trade center, but before they had fallen down.  i was shocked, but didn't really understand until i went into a bar just down the street.  cnn was on the tv's, of course.  and then the first tower fell.

 

i seriously considered jumping into the military right then, but i didn't.  i kept on considering it - thought it was my duty - thought i should do my part.  for honor, for valor, for pride in my country - for all of that.  and because i didn't know what else to do.  nothing else really seemed to matter.  i wanted to contribute to something larger than life in the same way that previous generations had in the past 'great wars'.

 

 

on september 11, 2002

 

i was at sea onboard the USS Higgins, DDG 76.  We were off the coast of california just cruising around in circles.  i was part of a SOVT (System Operational Verification Test) team testing an EHF communication system.  there was a memorial service in the morning, but i didn't even get up for it - i just slept in my bunk.

 

i guess i ended up joining the military after all - just as a navy civilian.

 

 

 

 

on september 11, 2006

 

i got my first 2 of 7 root canals...  :-p

just had my first dentist appt.

just a look see...

 

basically, i'm getting a whole new front end.

 

root canal - post - crown

teeth 7, 8, 9, 10, 24, 25, 26

 

crown

tooth 6

 

if i were into hip-hop just a little bit more, maybe i'd just get ice.  oh, well.

when i see the dentist on wednesday, i'm going to ask him if he can make me look like this...

(props to chris reid for his mad editing skillz)

 

well, folks, it's official - i've gone wireless.

waltzed into the doc's office yesterday morning in shackles at 0830 sharp and crawled out an hour later a free man. well, maybe didn't actually crawl out, but i've gotta say, getting the wires off hurt in a bad way. it all started with trying to numb the mouth. well, the gums are super sensitive and tender right now, so the needles weren't exactly my friends. that sucked in a major way, but that was only the prelude. the doc took a short break to get out his wire clippers and just then prince came over the muzak singing "this is what it sounds like... when doves cry..." how ironic.

clipping the attachments and removing the arch bars - not too fun, but bearable. but there were still the little wires that were wedged between my teeth.

doc : ok, this part is going to kind of feel like flossing with metal wires
me : uh. heh. heh.
doc : [rips out a wire]
me : ahhhhhhh!
doc : yeah, kind of barbaric isn't it? [rips out a wire]
me : ahhhhhhh!
doc : ok, just breathe deep and try to relax. [rips out a wire]
me : ahhhhhhh!

you get the picture.

flossing with metal wire is a decent description, but an even better one is to compare it to trying to start a lawn mower that has a pull cord. Rip! from right between each tooth.

so that was all over, i rinsed with some mouthwash, spat up some blood, got an x-ray, and that was that. the jaw was healed a-ok and the teeth would need to be further diagnosed by my dentist on wednesday. just on to the next phase, i guess. but the wires are off and that's cool. my gums are pretty beat up from being mashed by the wires for 8 weeks now, but they'll heal quickly enough.

the bottom line?

wires. no wires. bleeding gums. healthy gums. it all ends in one familiar picture.


i came. i saw. i conquered.
sarf it up. 

oh, word, people.  just 2 more days and the rest of the wires come out of my mouth.  then what?  only the shadow knows.  the actual dental work will start then, i guess.  but i'm totally ready for it.  just want to keep moving it along...  but wires out will be super sweet.  hopefully the teeth will start feeling a little more minty fresh without 23 and 24 gauge wire entwined all around everything.  awesometime.

 

work has been really hectic lately.  i'm heading probably the most important comms program for the navy that has exactly zero funding.  but it's really important.  but there's no money for it til FY08.  but they want the capability now...  it's kind of stressing cause i get wrapped up in solving problems, etc, but then i'm only working half-time, so i just have to try to leave it sometimes.  i don't know - it's kind of hard to explain.  i want to do the best job possible and get this capability out to the fleet, but there's just so many stumbling blocks in the way, etc.  and i can't just keep on staying at the office, cause then that means ditching training, or starting training late, which means eating late, which means getting to bed late, which then leads to subpar work/training the next day, you get the idea.  and when does laundry ever get done?

 

but in case you're wondering, training is going just fine.  raced at the track tuesday night - it was ok - nothing special - just trying to get my form back.  today was an easy 3 hour ride - just endurance.  tomorrow is weights in the morning and pursuit efforts in the afternoon.

it's all about the baselines.

 

so back on the 18th i got my jaw unwired (mostly).  went out for pizza and beer the next day with the boys.  now, i'm a fairly slow eater, but when your jaw simply doesn't want to cooperate, it makes things even worse.  took me forever to get through those 2 pieces.  they were quite tasty, nonetheless.

 

got pizza and beer again last night.  one week later, and the chewing is a-ok.  the jaw has been beaten back into submission and he now takes commands from my stomach.

 

stomach : i'm hungry!

jaw : aw, man....

stomach : what'd you say?

jaw : uh, nothing.  can i get you some pancakes or maybe a steak or maybe both?

stomach : YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT!!!

 

so before we got pizza and beer back on the 19th, i did a full day of racing at the track.  pretty ridiculous - i mean who goes from basically zero physical activity back to full-on racing?  that's like page 1 out of the how to wreck your body guidebook.  but it's also page 1 out of the kickstart your training program guidebook.  weird how those coincide.  so i did a 4 km pursuit - it was pretty slow - and a points race - it hurt real bad.  the amazing thing is that by some miracle i got 5th in the points race and went ahead and qualified for nationals.  utterly ridiculous.  sunday saw more racing, but it hurt triple hard that day.  ugh.  then came the work week, and all of a sudden i could actually talk at work for reals.  no more mumbling incoherently - at least not intentionally anymore?  raced on tuesday night at the track again and got dropped from the final race - suckage.  got some steady miles in on the rest of the week, and then went up to the adt velodrome in la on saturday.  total suckage in the form of racing.  did another fairly slow pursuit, but just wanted to set a baseline time up there for post-accident, and then got shelled in the points race.  finally got in some real pursuit training on the track here in sd on sunday, and things are looking better.  not sure if i'll be in any kind of great shape for nationals, but we'll see what happens.  5 more weeks of training, then it's nationals.  yowsa.

 

oh, and just 5 more days and the doc takes the rest of the wires out of my mouth.  hmmmmmmm.  just in time for labor day!

Jeremy Mucha - you've just got your jaw unwired. What are you going to do next - Disney Land? No - pizza and beer, please. The team took me out for a celebratory 'back in the saddle again' meal last Saturday, and it was sweet.
Word.

 

What'chu lookin' at!?!

 

oh man, i just yawned.  that was flippin sweet.

Freedom at last! Time to get some breakfast... I was so excited to dig in that I started eating before I even got the camera out...
Mission accomplished.

OK, so eating food was super cool. But do you know what was shocking? I took the first bite of pancakes and realized I could barely even open my mouth! Yeah, I could open it a little bit, but not the normal amount to simply put food in - I could only open it about the width of my thumb. That was weird, cause I had to cut things up really extra small. Next, my mouth had basically forgotten how to chew! Chewing was nearly impossible - it was more like cut things up really small, put them in the mouth, try to press them with my molars, then swallow. Yeah, weird. The teeth didn't feel right - it just felt like I was gumming my food or something. Really odd. So the pancakes and eggs were fine to not really chew too much, but the sausage was tough. But like the professional eater that I am, I managed to overcome the naysayers and clean the plate. booyah.

next up, thai.